Grace Brown / Family Connections – Land and Rivers (GB35)

Grace Brown is a proud Wurundjeri woman of the Woiwurrung language group. Born in Ferntree Gully, Victoria, Grace was raised on her grandmother’s Country on Wurundjeri land and spent much of her life in the surrounding region. She also spent many years travelling through the opal fields of outback Queensland before settling on the Gold Coast, where she has developed strong relationships within the Yugambeh community.

Grace’s journey as an artist is closely connected to her family history. Her Wurundjeri heritage comes through her great-grandmother, Grace Humphries. Both Grace Humphries and, in later years, her daughter Emma Brown and Emma’s siblings were removed from their families and made wards of the state, resulting in generations of cultural disconnection. After many years of research, Grace has worked to reclaim and strengthen her family’s connection to culture, Country and community. She paints in honour of her grandparents and to ensure that her children know and take pride in their heritage.

Grace has drawn, painted and designed since childhood, exploring many different artistic mediums throughout her life. She studied an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Arts course in 2020 and 2021 and has since dedicated her artistic practice to learning more about her culture, family history and the stories shared with her by family, community and Elders.

Nature is a central inspiration within Grace’s work. Her paintings often feature Australian animals, birds, native plants and landscapes surrounded by intricate fields of fine dot work. The dots merge into flowing, lace-like patterns that have become a distinctive feature of her style. This lace effect also carries a deeply personal meaning, recalling memories of her grandmother’s love of lace and of Grace looking across a lace-covered table as a child.

Through her art, Grace explores connections between family, Country, land, water, language and culture. Her paintings frequently bring together cultural storytelling, memories of childhood and observations of the natural environment. Each work reflects her respect for Country and her belief that stories and cultural knowledge must continue to be shared across generations.

Grace has completed a growing number of significant commissions and collaborative projects. In 2021, she was commissioned to create a large artwork for the boardroom of Gold Coast University Hospital, with permission from Yugambeh Elders. Her painting Desert Breeze was later selected by The Teskey Brothers as the cover artwork for their recording of Archie Roach’s Get Back to the Land, featuring Emma Donovan.

In 2024, Grace was commissioned to design the mission patch for the Waratah Seed space mission, drawing upon her White Waratah Dreaming artwork and its themes of regeneration, healing, strength and working together. Her other projects have included artwork for Tugun Satellite Hospital, known in the Yugambeh language as Banyahrmabah, an Indigenous design painted on a Swoop Aero display drone, a youth health and wellbeing project with Gold Coast students, and a public lightbox artwork celebrating Ferntree Gully and its native wildlife.

Grace’s paintings are now held in private collections throughout Australia and internationally. Through her highly detailed work, she shares stories of family, resilience and cultural reconnection, while celebrating the enduring relationship between people and Country.

Prizes

2022 Finalist, Art Lovers Australia Art Prize
2021 Finalist, Bluethumb Art Prize
2021 Shortlisted, Art Lovers Australia Awards
2020 Shortlisted, Art Lovers Australia Awards

Exhibitions

2023 For Our Elders, NAIDOC Week Exhibition, Gold Coast University Hospital
2021 Heal Country, NAIDOC Week Exhibition, Gold Coast University Hospital
2021 Heal Country, NAIDOC Week Exhibition, Art Lovers Australia
2021 Art Lovers Australia
2020 Art Lovers Australia

This painting celebrates the deep connections between family, Country and the waterways that sustain life. Grace Brown reflects on generations of families gathering beside rivers and waterholes to fish, share food, tell stories and spend time together.

The flowing lines represent the movement of water across the landscape, while the circular forms suggest family groups and important gathering places. Waterlilies and eels are also remembered as part of this living environment, each connected to the waterways and the changing seasons.

Grace’s intricate patterns show how every part of Country is linked. Just as rivers travel through the land and waterlily roots meet beneath the surface, family relationships extend across generations, carrying knowledge, memories and stories forward.